a bleeding purple utah jazz blog

Off-Day Bits

Gordon Hayward**On video games: I think I started playing Halo I think when I was, like, 12, and my mom almost had a heart attack ’cause it was, like, rated M for Mature or whatever, and you know, it’s supposed to be 17. But my dad let it slide, so I was a happy camper….I was never able to play [Grand Theft Auto].

**On what the other guys on the team play: A lot of guys play some Call of Duty, and I play that every once in a while, but a lot of them also play the NBA, the sports games, like NBA and Madden. But Jeremy Evans and I always play FIFA against each other. That’s probably the one sports video game that I like.

Earl Watson**On backup point guard minutes: I think [Jamaal Tinsley and I] been around too long to even let that affect us, and we both know we gonna play in this league no matter what. And, you know, our thing is just to have fun with it, and make our teammates better. We both, you know, we both want to win…It’s too late in the season to be competing with your teammate. I never been a big fan or believer of that.

Horny had the free throw line face swipe. Tyrone…

Tyrone Corbin**On backup point guard minutes: They both deserve to play. Jamaal’s done a tremendous job for us, and Earl is working his way back in. It’s not gonna be a lot of minutes there now that Mo’s back up to speed, so I wanna give a guy who’s playing those minutes an opportunity to get a rhythm going before we make a decision…

We love Jamaal. You know, we love Earl also. But I don’t wanna, you can play one guy a few minutes in the first half and another guy for minutes in the second half, but does that do us good or the guy any good? So, we’ll stay with a rotation for a little while and then we may make a change.

**Is the backup point guard situation a quandary? It is. I mean, it, it is. But it is what it is. I mean, and, and you know, as I talk to the guys, we, you know, we expect you to continue to work.

**On Jamaal Tinsley: You guys don’t understand how much he’s talking to guys during the course of the game. Every huddle and during the game, he’s, he’s, even though he’s not playing the last two games, he’s talking and encouraging guys, and telling us to hang in there, and we got a lot of time left.

Just, you know, talking to the point guards, and telling them, letting them know what he see on the floor. Talking to the younger guys as to how, if they don’t come off screens right, wait, set your man up, and what he see. And I mean, it’s, he’s just such a great influence on the guys because of his experience and how he play the game…He’s not overbearing; he’s not stepping on anybody else’s, getting in anybody else’s way. He’s just helping his team try and be successful.

Sidney Lowe**On Chauncey Billups’ flop: That was very disappointing, especially the fact that that’s, like you said, supposed to be a point of emphasis. And not only did he kick his leg out, but he also threw his arm out. So you know, he did two things in that case, and it’s, it’s unfortunate. Especially at a time like that in the game, you know, where, you know, a questionable call can cost you, pretty much cost you the game. That was really tough to take…No question about it, that was a major, major play in the game last night.

**On the Jazz’s “brutal” schedule, and how getting through November relatively unscathed at around .500 isn’t a bad thing: I mean, when you look at our schedule, it’s been brutal. It really has. And we’re, we’re out on the road and we’re back, we might have one day in between, and we play again and we’re back. And you know, our guys really haven’t gotten a lot of rest, you know, but I think they certainly have fought through it, and coach has, you know, kept the guys going.

I have a friend who’s a Rockets photographer, and he got some great shots of the Jazz’s defense on James Harden during the Rockets game:

Mo Williams**Would you rather be a go-to guy on a fringe Playoff team or a role/bench player on a championship-caliber team? I want to win a championship. That’s my goal…I don’t see myself as a star. I see myself as a good player, a good basketball player just trying to lead my team. I don’t really care about the stardom aspect of it. I just want to win, and whatever role that’s axed upon me, that’s what I want to do.

You know, I don’t want to get all the accolades. I can care less about that. And I don’t see myself as a go-to player. I see myself as a team player, and that’s what I’m surrounded by here in Utah. We got a group of players that’s really good, and we just come together and play well…It’s not one guy. It’s gonna be a different guy each and every night.

Kevin O’Connor**On Enes Kanter: He’s just sooo, freaking young. You know. And he missed a year and a half of [the five years he’s been playing basketball.] And then he has the lockout last year, and so it’s, it’s baby steps. And when we talked about it, and I told our owner, I said, you know, people are going to play better than he does for the first couple of years. But you’re not gonna be able to get a kid with that kind of motor. …

So here’s a big guy that’s got a good motor, as they say, and he wants to work. So he’s gonna get better. Anybody that’s that size, that are willing to work, is naturally gonna get better, as is anybody. But a lot of big guys don’t get better because they don’t work. It’s a tougher game for them. It’s a tougher thing to do.

It’s like, it, it’s, it’s Pilates. If they’re doing Pilates and you’re 6’9″, and the guy next to you is 5’9″, he’s gonna be better at it, you know? And it’s just frustrating, so it, it’s a tougher thing to do, but once you get it, and you get in a routine, then it’s not a lot of 6’9″ guys out there.

**On Kanter and Derrick Favors: If you remember the “old days,” a lot of guys who came into the league didn’t play a lot their first year or two. And then they gradually, you know, grew into it. And they’re having to earn their playing time a little bit.

And certainly Derrick’s ahead of Enes, because he’s a year older. He’s played actually, you know, two, two and a half years more basketball over the last four. So, he’s ahead of Enes, and, but, it, the nice thing is, that we see progressions.